Nov. 12, 1933 – Feb. 21, 2010
Cambridge’s John Cross would have been extremely honoured to know he was being inducted into the Cambridge Sports Hall of Fame, said his daughter Janis Dunning.
“For more than 30 years my Dad gave selflessly to minor sports, filling just about every role at some point.”
Cross grew up playing hockey, and also played football and rugby at GCI, but it is as a builder that he is best remembered by ringette and softball players in Cambridge.
The former owner of Crosses Flowers, Cross was named the Don and Benita Rope sports contributor in 1993, a recognition of the depth of his involvement in local sports.
In 1973 Cross was a founding member of the Cambridge Rin- gette Association, and in 1997 was inducted into the Ontario Ringette Hall of Fame as a provincial builder.
Cross’s involvement not only included Cambridge teams, but he was also active on both the provincial and national levels. In 1993 he served as treasurer and first vice-president of Ontario Ringette.
For years Cross spent countless hours organizing, teaching and coaching Cambridge ringette teams to National Championship levels. These included: the 198-84 Cambridge Belles B regional champs; the 1988 Cam- bridge Petite A Central Ontario Ringette champions and provincial bronze medalists.
In 1989 he coached the Southern Region All-Star AAA team to a silver medal, and the Tween A All-Star team, winning a medal at the Ontario Winter Games.
In 1991 he returned to the provincial Winter Games with his Southern Region, winning a bronze medal.
Two years later his Intermediate A All-Star team struck gold at the Ontario Winter Games.
In 1995 his Cambridge Tween AA team won bronze at the provincial championships, and that same year his Southern Region Tween AA All-Star team won silver at the Ontario Winter Games.
He also coached several CORL championship teams including the 1994 Flamborough Intermediate A CORL champs, the 1996 and 1997 CORL championship squads (Petite AA in 1996; Tween A in 1997).
John didn’t confine his sports involvement to ringette. He was also heavily involved in Cambridge Girls Softball, serving as president and coach for many years (1984-2009), and coached Can-Amera softball beginning in 1984.
At the time of his death, in 2010, Cross was heading the Cam- bridge Girls Softball tournament committee and had convinced the executive to host a larger tournament.
Following his death, the committee followed through on his wishes, and named the tournament the John A. Cross Memorial Tournament in his honour.
At Cross’s funeral, many girls and parents gave testimonials of how his coaching had helped to make them better, more responsible citizens.
Cross had emphasized maximum participation through the years, with a focus on individual improvement.